NASA’s Spirit rover has found a Martian rock unlike anything researchers have seen before — on Mars or Earth — but they hope it may finally hint at a watery past of the Gusev crater landing site. Mission engineers are also pushing the rover Opportunity to its robotic limits inside a crater on the other side of the planet.
June 22nd, 2004
Xerox DocuShare Software Helps NASA with Data Mars Rovers WhatTheyThink.com
Millions of miles deep into space, NASA’s two Mars Exploration Rovers are busy mining data about the red planet – and then NASA project personnel are analyzing their findings and using Xerox Corporation’s DocuShare Enterprise Content Management software to create an out-of-this-world information collection that can be easily accessed and exchanged by Mars project members anywhere.
June 20th, 2004
Naming Mars: You’re in Charge Astrobiology Magazine
Less than two weeks after Spirit landed on Mars, rover engineers and scientists were already planning Spirit’s itinerary on the surface. “Go To That Crater And Turn Right” read the headline of a January 13 press release. Needless to say, generically referring to features as “that crater,” “this rock,” or “these hills” could quickly become confusing.
June 20th, 2004
Mars rovers’ longevity amazes scientists Palm Beach Post
The twin Mars Exploration rovers, NASA’s Spirit and Opportunity, continue to astonish scientists with their endurance and longevity. These rovers were designed to tough it out in the harsh Martian conditions, but they were expected to begin failing not long after they completed their initial missions — which ended in April.
June 16th, 2004
Mars rover spies pot of gold New Scientist
Tantalising new images are cascading back from NASA’s Mars rovers now that they have reached their long-awaited geological sites. Spirit is now at the edge of the Columbia Hills facing what appears to be an easily-accessible hilltop straight ahead. The hilltop should offer vistas of the surrounding plain that is believed to be an ancient lakebed.
June 15th, 2004
Mars rover Spirit develops wheel problem
The Mars rover Spirit has developed a problem with one of its six wheels, but NASA officials said Tuesday they believe the robot geologist can continue working. The right front wheel has become balky, requiring more electrical current to turn, said Mark Adler, the mission manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena.
June 15th, 2004
Mars Rovers Going the Extra Mile
NASA’s Mars rovers are delighting scientists with their extra credit assignments. Both rovers successfully completed their primary three-month missions in April. The Spirit rover is exploring a range of martian hills that took two months to reach. It is finding curiously eroded rocks that may be new pieces to the puzzle of the region’s past. Spirit’s twin, Opportunity, is also negotiating sloped ground. It is examining exposed rock layers inside a crater informally named “Endurance.”
June 15th, 2004
Shooting for the stars (or Mars) The Green Bay News-Chronicle
When Chris Lewicki was honored earlier this spring, it was for his work on Mars. The flight director of the NASA-JPL Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Flight Director Chris Lewicki accepted on behalf of the entire MER team the first Exploration Award presented by the Earth and Space Foundation at a star-studded ceremony in Los Angeles April 12, 2004. The award was commemorating the MER team’s outstanding work on the surface of the Red Planet earlier this year.
June 14th, 2004
NASA Schedules Mars Rover Media Briefing
NASA will update the news media on the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission Tuesday at 1 p.m. EDT at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, California. The briefing will cover the Spirit rover’s arrival at Columbia Hills and rover Opportunity’s descent into Endurance Crater. Both rovers successfully completed their three-month primary missions in April and are exploring during their bonus extended missions.
June 13th, 2004
Spirit Mars Rover Reaches Hills, Opportunity Goes Deep
The Spirit and Opportunity rovers have each entered a new stage of exploration on Mars. For Spirit, the robot has pulled up at the base of the Columbia Hills, following a record-setting trek across the landscape of Gusev Crater. Meanwhile, on the other side of the planet at Meridiani Planum, the Opportunity rover is studying science-rich targets within the sloping walls of the large impact crater dubbed Endurance.